Search

This paper discusses recent histories of labor shortages in Singapore, Japan, and several western European countries. Emphasis is upon the economic effects of severe shortages of labor. Fearing that these shortages would seriously handicap further economic progress, many people in these countries have advocated large-scale immigration or increased population growth or both. It is the author's conclusion that the existence of a labor shortage is not a valid ground for encouraging either population growth or immigration. The series of which this publication is a part is intended to increase understanding of the interrelationships between population growth and socioeconomic and cultural patterns throughout the world, and to communicate this understanding to scholars and policy makers. (Author/RM)

This collection of papers comprises proceedings from the 5th English in South East Asia Conference, held in December 2000 at Curtin University of Technology in Perth. The 19 papers include the following: (1) "Global English and Local Language Policies" (Robert Phillipson); (2) "Hong Kong Parents' Preference for English-Medium Education: Passive Victims of Imperialism or Active Agents of Pragmatism?" (David Li); (3) "Implications of the Recommendation that English Become the Second Official Language in Japan" (Kayako Hashimoto); (4) "Culture and Identity in the English Discourses of Mayalsians" (Azirah Mashim); (5) "Englishization and Nativization Processes in the Context of Brunei Darussalam: Evidence for and Against" (Hajaj Rosnah Haji Ramly, Noor Azam Haji Othman, and James McLellan); (6) "Kissing Cousins? The Relationship between English and Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea" (Geoff Smith); (7) "Chaos in Aboriginal English Discourse" (Farzad Sharifian); (8) "Language, Literature and Culture--and Their Meeting Place in the Dictionary" (Susan Butler); (9) "Even Obituaries Reflect Cultural Norms and Values" (Maya Khemlani David and Janet Y. Yong); (10) "Recent Research into the Pronunciation of Singapore English" (Low Ee Ling and David Deterding); (11) "Languages in Contact: Hong Kong English Phonology and the Influence of Cantonese" (Tony Hung); (12) "Canon and Pedagogy: The Role of American Colonial Education and Defining Standards for Philippine Literature" (Isabel Pefianco Martin); (13) "ASEAN and Asian Cultures and Models: Implications for The ELT Curriculum and for Teacher Education" (Andy Kirkpatrick); (14) "From TEFL to TEIL: Changes in Perceptions and Practices: Teaching English as an International Language in Chinese Universities" (Xy Zhichang); (15) "Reflective Discourse in Teacher Education in Brunei Darussalam" (David Lochmohr Prescott); (16) "Alternative English: Vernacular Oral Art among Aboriginal Youth" (Ian Malcom); (17) "A Study of the Language of Pre-School Malaysian Children" (Kow Yip Cheng); (18) "Communication Behaviours of EFL Learners in a Native English-Speaker Teacher's Class: A Case in Hong Kong" (Jasmine Luk); and (19) "Multilingual Practices in Rural Malaysia and Their Impact on English Language Learning in Rural Education" (Hazita Azman). (Papers contain references.) (SM)

The fundamental theme of these papers is what constitutes the common good and the issues and problems related to the understanding of that common good. Several anthropologists and a political scientist explore this theme in various geographic settings and from many theoretical and methodological perspectives. Among the countries and cultures represented in the compendium are Nigeria, Ghana, Japan, Singapore, Latin America, Chinatown USA, the Circumpolar North, and Canada. Papers include "Planning Nigeria's New Capital City: Implementation and the Public Good" (Ronald Cohen and John Paden); "Chieftaincy and Constitutionalism in Ghana: The Case of the Third Republic" (Maxwell Owusu); "The Reduction of Rates of Violent Crime: Japan since World War II" (Robert J. Smith); "Planners, Householders and Fertility Reduction" (Robert S. Merrill); "Conflict in Chinatown: Changing Images and Institutions" (Serena Nanda); "Research, Policy and Ideas in Good Currency: The Squatter Settlement Phenomenon" (Lisa R. Peattie); "Internal Colonialism or Self-Sufficiency? Problems and Prospects in the Circumpolar North" (John Dryzek and Oran R. Young); and "Formulating the Common Interest: The Role of Structures in Cree Development" (Richard F. Salisbury). (RM)

This monograph presents nine author-contributed papers which look at issues of aging and mental retardation from the perspectives of nine nations: Australia (by Trevor R. Parmenter), Great Britain (by Steve Moss), Canada (by Gerrit Groeneweg), Germany (by Gottfried Adam), Hong Kong (by John W. L. Tse), Indonesia (by D. Lianta), Japan (by Takeo Kanetsuki), the Netherlands (by Meindert J. Haveman and Marian A. Maaskant), and Singapore (by M. K. Wong). A concluding paper by the editor notes three predominating philosophies of service welfare: the Asian model (with its emphasis on family care through the extended family); the Western European model (with institutional care a major component); and the North American/United Kingdom model (characterized by a strong philosophy of normalization and deinstitutionalization). Other conclusions suggest that most countries have adopted a largely voluntary sector organization supported from government finance and that all these countries recognize the urgency of developing policies and services for the increasing numbers of older persons with developmental disabilities. An American perspective on the issues is provided in commentaries by seven American authors. Most papers include references. (DB)

This collection of papers examines, from an international perspective, opportunities and challenges of societal bilingualism in the new millennium. The 18 papers include the following: "Introduction: Opportunities and Challenges of Bilingualism" (Li Wei, Jean-Marc Dewaele, and Alex Housen); "'Holy Languages' in the Context of Societal Bilingualism" (Joshua A. Fishman); "Forlorn Hope?" (John Edwards); "When Languages Disappear, are Bilingual Education or Human Rights a Cure? Two Scenarios" (Tove Skutnabb-Kangas); "Core Values and Nation-States" (J.J. Smolicz); "French Language Policy: Centrism, Orwellian 'Dirigisme,' or Economic Determinism" (Harold F. Schiffman); "The Non-Linearity of Language Maintenance and Language Shift: Survey Data from European Language Boundaries" (Peter H. Nelde and Peter Weber); "Language Shift Among Siberian Estonians: Pro and Contra" (Juri Viikberg); "On Attitudes Towards Croatian Dialects and On Their Changing Status" (Damir Kalogjera); "Ethnolects: Between Bilingualism and Urban Dialect" (Wolfgang Wolck); "The Development of Navajo-English Bilingualism" (Bernard Spolsky); "Language Ideology, Ownership and Maintenance: The Discourse of the 'Academic Mayor de la Lengua Quechua'" (Tim Marr); "Xhosa as a 'Home Appliance'? A Case Study of Language Shift in Grahamstown" (Vivian de Klerk); "Japan's Nascent Multilingualism" (Florian Coulmas and Makoto Watanabe); "Managing Multilingualism in Singapore" (Xu Daming and Li Wei); "Managing Languages at Bilingual Universities: Relationships Between Universities and Their Language Environment" (Bjorn H. Jernudd); "Using Descriptive Inquiry to Transform the Education of Linguistically Diverse U.S. Teachers and Students" (Ofelia Garcia and Cecelia Traugh); and "Changing Paradigms in the Study of Bilingualism" (William F. Mackey). (Papers contain references.) (SM)

This document contains 11 papers on technological entrepreneurship, with particular focus on the following topics: the context of technological entrepreneurship; value creation and opportunity recognition in turbulent environments; venture capital in technological entrepreneurship; and managing in turbulent environments. The following papers are included: "Introduction" (Philip H. Phan); "Strategic Value Creation" (David H. Gobeli, Harold F. Koenig, Chandra S. Mishra); "Entrepreneurs' Opportunities in Technology-Based Markets" (Steve Walsh, Bruce Kirchoff); "Beyond the Boundaryless Organization: The Value of E-Commerce Technologies in Entrepreneurship Behavior" (Lisa K. Gundry, Jill Kickul); "Tertiary Education and Entrepreneurial Intentions" (Clement K. Wang, Poh Kam Wong, Qing Lu); "Regional Innovation Resources for Environmental Management" (Gregory Theyel); "Allocation of Attention within Venture Capital Firms: A Queuing Network Model" (Dean A. Shepherd, Michael J. Armstrong, Moren Levesque); "Venture Capital Firms and the Monitoring of Entrepreneurial Firms: The Case of Japan" (Toru Yoshikawa); "Venture Capital Firm Internationalization and Monitoring High Tech Entrepreneurship: The Case of India" (Mike Wright, Sarika Pruthi, Andy Lockett); "Critical Incidents in High-Tech Start-ups: A Singapore Study" (Maw Der Foo, Hwee Hoon Tan); "A Process Study of New Venture Creation at an Internet Start-up Company" (Rueyllin Hsiao, Chee-Leong Chong); and "From Flypaper to Globalization: Zobele Chemical Industries (1919-2001)" (Pier A. Abetti). Most papers include substantial bibliographies. (MN)

This collection of papers explores sociocultural influences on motivation and learning across a broad range of settings and content areas. There are 16 papers in five sections. "Introduction" includes: (1) "Modern Education Needs Cross-Cultural Psychology" (Harry Triandis). Part 1, "The Motivation Context," includes: (2) "Beyond Dichotomous Characterizations of Student Learning: New Directions in Achievement Motivation Research" (Janine Bempechat and Beth A. Boulay); (3) "A Comparison of Motivational and Critical Thinking Orientations Across Ethnic Groups" (Tim Urdan and Carol Giancarlo); and (4) "The Contexts of Individual Motivational Change" (Judith MacCallum). Part 2, "The Learning Context," features: (5) "Social Representations of School Failure in Brazilian Public Schools: A Framework for Understanding and Change" (Elizabeth Gama and Denise Meyreles de Jesus); (6) "The Impact of Sociocultural Context on Future Goals and Self-Regulation" (Stephanie Brickman and Raymond Miller); and (7) "Uncovering Sociocultural Influences Leads to a Call for Personalized Learning" (Glenn Fay). Part 3, "The Family Context," includes: (8) "Perceived Parenting Success of Mothers in Japan" (Robert Strom, Shirley Strom, and Paris Strom); (9) "Fathers' Role in the School Success of Adolescents: A Singapore Study" (Ong Ai Choo and Esther Tan); and (10) "Correlates of Achievement in the United Arab Emirates: A Sociocultural Study" (Maher M. Abu-Hilal). Part 4, "The Curriculum Context," features: (11) "Engaged Reading: A Multi-Level Approach to Considering Sociocultural Factors with Diverse Learners" (Robert Rueda, Laurie Macgillivray, Lilia Monzo, and Angela Arzubiaga); (12) "Adolescent Second Language Writers in China: A Sociocultural Analysis" (Kerri-Lee Krause and Dan O'Brien); (13) "Achievement in Mathematics and Language Arts: A Comparative Study of Canadian and German Preservice Teachers' Beliefs" (Erika Kuendiger, David Kellenberger, and Siegbert Schmidt); (14) "Native American Influence on Curriculum and Instruction" (Scott Sparks); (15) "Sociocultural Context and Service Learning Inside and Outside of the University Classroom" (Valerie McKay); and (16) "Play and Learning in School: A Motivational Approach" (Ole Fredrik Lillemyr). (Papers contain references.) (SM)

Papers on aspects of second language program evaluation include the following: "The Role of Language Testing in Language Program Evaluation" (Adrian Palmer); "Defining an Appropriate Role for Language Tests in Intensive English Language Programs" (Margaret Des Brisay, Doreen Ready); "Principles and Practice in an Evaluation Project" (Dermot F. Murphy); "National Level Formative Evaluation: Some First Steps" (Ali Abdul Ghani, Brian Hunt); "Second Language Proficiency Assessment and Program Evaluation" (David Nunan); "How Program Personnel Can Help Maximize the Utility of Language Program Evaluations" (Ronald Mackay); "The Development of Self Assessment Skills in TESOL Teacher Preparation" (Alastair L. McGregor); "Bringing Evaluation and Methodology Closer Together" (David Crabbe);"Evaluating a Teacher Training Project in Difficult Circumstances" (C. J. Weir, J. Roberts); "Program Evaluation in Light of Language Learning Background, Student Assessments, and TOEFL Performance" (Harry L. Gradman, Edith Hanania); "Towards Evaluating the Writing Laboratory: A Prototype" (Ma Flor E. Mejorada, Elvira Fonacier); "Trialling of the NEW EL Syllabuses for Singapore Schools" (Goh Soon Guan); and "EAP Program Evaluation in an Asian Context: A Case from Japan" (Mark Sawyer). (MSE)

Chapter 4 of the book "Older Persons in Southeast Asia: An Emerging Asset" is presented. It discusses issues involved in a long-term-care disability insurance (LTCDI) scheme. Particular focus is given to the prevalence of disability among older people in Singapore in 2006. It notes that the rate of severe disability and mild disability in Japan has implications for its long-term-care insurance system. Also included are information on LTCDI schemes in Japan, Germany and Singapore.